Warmth will be the trend across much of Argentina and the Pacific Coast this autumn, with dryness leading to drought concerns in some areas.
Meanwhile, rounds of rain will limit temperatures and dryness across much of northern and eastern South America.
Rain to frequent northern, central South America Rounds of rain will soak much of the northern tier of South America this autumn, limiting drought concerns.
While rain frequents northern and eastern Brazil, drier conditions are in the forecast for southern regions of the country.
“Southern Brazil, namely Rio Grande Do Sul to Parana, will start the season drier than normal before trending toward a more active and wetter pattern later in the season,” Nicholls said.
“The wet pattern can lead to harvesting delays, but far southern Rio Grande So Sul can average drier than normal for the season,“ Nicholls added.
Drought concerns to build in Argentina, Uruguay The dry conditions persisting across Argentina this summer will continue into the autumn, putting the country at risk for drought.
These areas will continue to average drier than normal through the autumn,” Nicholls said.
“The drier- and warmer-than-normal pattern will likely further stress corn and soybeans [grown across the region] as they push into maturing,” Nicholls said.
Similar conditions are expected for northern and central Chile with waves of heat in March and April, including in the capital of Santiago.

Argentine President Mauricio Macri was banking on a near-record soybean crop to drive economic growth of 3.5% this year and extend the nation’s recovery.
Instead, this year’s drought, on course to be the worst in 30 years, has farmers bracing for the poorest harvest since 2009.
It’s an unwanted surprise for a government with a daunting list of tasks that already includes taming inflation, closing the fiscal gap and boosting exports.
The government may need to trim its forecast for gross domestic product in 2018 if dryness persists this week, Guido Sandleris, the chief adviser at the Treasury Ministry, said on Monday.
No significant rain is predicted.
“This will probably have a very serious impact on the economy, exports and tax collection,” said Emilce Terre, chief economist at the Rosario Board of Trade.
The average GDP estimate has dropped to 2.5% from 2.9% last month.
That year, analysts predicted a soy crop of 46.2 million metric tons.
Eco Go SA slashed the forecast to 1.8% from the previous estimate of 2.1%, said Martin Vauthier, an economist at the consulting company In a worst-case scenario, the drought would chop 0.5 percentage points off growth, Lucia Pezzarini, an economist at the LCG SA consultancy, said in a report on Monday She is predicting a fall in crop exports of $2 billion based on cuts to harvest estimates since December However, an easing of monetary policy and an expected up-tick in major trade partner Brazil means LCG is keeping its growth forecast at 2% for now If crop estimates continue dropping, “this is going to be bad,” said Ivan Ordonez, an independent economist who’s a consultant to farm supply companies.
“We could be looking at a repeat of 2009.” –With assistance from Jorgelina do Rosario and Ignacio Olivera Doll.

originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
And lots of people talk about volcano eruptions, but those are hard to predict.
Earthquakes happen all the time, generally along known fault lines, so California has strict building codes for new construction and protocols for disaster response.
In all of these cases, our preparations involve emergency response.
But there is one disaster we could and should try to prevent, and that’s the damage caused by drought (and its surprising side-effect: flooding).
Water management, agricultural practices, community planning, regulation of mining practices, and careful planning of road construction can all impact soil conditions.
Drought is a climate issue, so the idea of Climate Change is raised, and that provokes a political backlash (especially in election years).
So at this point, individuals (like the farmers with their cover crops) are doing more to mitigate the effects of drought that anyone is doing on a state or national level.
Until we can put the argument about climate change aside and find some common ground, it’s all about the mop-up, rather than the prevention.
This question originally appeared on Quora – the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.

During a media briefing last week, Umgeni Water warned that there are serious water shortages in this dam, which ultimately supplies water to an estimated six million consumers in uMgungundlovu, Pietermaritzburg, Durban, iLembe, Middle South Coast (Ugu) and Ixopo (Harry Gwala DM).
An estimated two million consumers are dependent on Albert Falls for water.
Today we hosting media at the Albert Falls Dam, sharing our plans towards ensuring that the water crisis is managed in the province #waterislife #UmgeniWatercares pic.twitter.com/TXuSOLJ1wn — Umgeni Water (@UmgeniWater) February 13, 2018 The Mgeni system comprises, in its upper part, Mearns Weir, Spring Grove Dam and Midmar Dam and in its lower part Albert Falls, Nagle and Inanda dams.
It ultimately supplies water to an estimated four million consumers in uMgungundlovu, Pietermaritzburg, Durban and in the north of Ugu.
Of great concern to Umgeni Water is the level of Albert Falls, a strategically important dam that has consistently remained at under 30% for at least two years.
A complication is the high evaporation rate of surface water at Albert Falls, and current high temperatures are not assisting in preservation of water resources.
Indeed we have seen large rainfalls but we urge households to continuously save water – Mr Steve Gillham #WaterIsLife pic.twitter.com/fBWQZ8YMnf — Umgeni Water (@UmgeniWater) February 13, 2018 During a Mgeni system Joint Operations Committee JOC meeting, it was decided that water restrictions of 15% in about 80% of Durban, all of Pietermaritzburg and all of uMgungundlovu will remain in place.
Here is your weekly dam update: The Vaal River System consisting of 14 dams serving mainly Gauteng Sasol and Eskom is at 93.1%.
Here are the latest dam percentages throughout the country: For a more in depth rainfall update, visit WeatherSA or click here.
For a comprehensive drought status report from the Department of Water and Sanitation, click here.

Video provided by Newsy Newslook A weak storm system brought little rain to Ventura County on Monday and Tuesday, providing a disappointing end to a typically wet month.
According to the Ventura County Watershed Protection District, most communities in the county got less than one-tenth of an inch of precipitation between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
“It’s the new way of life in California.” Anselm said this year’s rainfall totals are distressing.
“It is by far worse than previous drought years,” he said.
The low temperatures dropped the lowest elevation for snowfall to around 2,500 feet, resulting in a dusting on mountains in the Thousand Oaks area.
Additional rainfall is not expected until Thursday, the first day of March.
As a result, February will end with its rainfall total more than 3 inches below normal, according to the National Weather Service.
The low rainfall total for February continues a dry trend that has persisted since the start of the rain year in October, Sweet said.
Since October, Sweet said, the National Weather Service station at the Camarillo Airport has received 1.23 inches of rain.
A storm expected to arrive Thursday could provide some relief.

The Test Kitchen in Cape Town – five time winner of the title of best restaurant in the country – has announced major changes to its menu and operations to combat the Western Cape’s ongoing drought.
The restaurant has implemented several water saving measures throughout its operations, including using melted ice bucket water for cleaning the floors, and fitting water saving taps, it said in a statement alongside Western Cape MEC Alan Winde, on Monday.
Chef and owner, Luke Dale Roberts has also designed a menu that uses minimal water to prepare.
To do this, he’s reduced the amount of blanching, stocks and sauces required to produce his dishes.
The new six-course menu, which also includes three snacks, will cost R690 per person – excluding wines – and will be the only menu served.
Diners can also choose a tea-, gourmand wine- or iconic wine-pairing to accompany the dishes.
In addition to this, diners at the Drought Kitchen will have their food served to them in a wooden frame, on compostable cardboard that is slipped out between courses.
“We realised that everything you do to conserve water has an impact on people’s jobs, so we’ve taken two of the four (laundry workers) and trained them to do vegetable prep for the Pot Luck Club,” Roberts said.
Roberts said the largest water usage in his restaurant came from the dish washer, and switching to the frames instead of plates, saves on washing 5,000 dishes per week.
Read: Cape Town’s ‘day zero’ pushed back even further to July

Economists cut growth forecasts as soybean estimates slump Farmers brace for worst crop since 2009 as dryness continues Argentine President Mauricio Macri was banking on a near-record soybean crop to drive economic growth of 3.5 percent this year and extend the nation’s recovery.
Instead, this year’s drought, on course to be the worst in 30 years, has farmers bracing for the poorest harvest since 2009.
It’s an unwanted surprise for a government with a daunting list of tasks that already includes taming inflation, closing the fiscal gap and boosting exports.
The government may need to trim its forecast for gross domestic product in 2018 if dryness persists this week, Guido Sandleris, the chief adviser at the Treasury Ministry, said on Monday.
No significant rain is predicted.
“This will probably have a very serious impact on the economy, exports and tax collection,” said Emilce Terre, chief economist at the Rosario Board of Trade.
The average GDP estimate has dropped to 2.5 percent from 2.9 percent last month.
Soybean and corn shipments account for 36 percent of total exports and the government taxes the former.
That year, analysts predicted a soy crop of 46.2 million metric tons.
“We could be looking at a repeat of 2009.” — With assistance by Jorgelina Do Rosario, and Ignacio Olivera Doll

Tourists who want to help Cape Town during its water crisis should sing in the shower.
South Africa’s second-largest city is suffering from a severe water shortage and expects to run out of water on July 9, the doomsday date known as Day Zero.
To keep time, you can count Mississippis, set a stopwatch or play one of several South African songs that have been shortened to two minutes.
“It’s not pandemonium — ‘I can’t shower.
Only Cape Town is.
“People think that if there’s a drought in Cape Town, it must be all over,” he said.
“It’s water-wise tourism,” he said.
Last year, the dams were 37 percent full; this week, the number is hovering at 24 percent.
When the needle hits 13 percent, the government will declare Day Zero and turn off the municipality’s running water.
For updates and facts on the water crisis, Wesgro, the tourism office for Cape Town and the Western Cape, created a website and Twitter account: #WaterWiseTourism.

Cape Town’s Day Zero, the day when the city’s taps are turned off, has been pushed out all the way to July 9, from April 16 to May 11.
That should be good news, city officials now risk coming off as alarmist.
“Day Zero is a very real concept but it’s not inevitable,” said Xanthea Limberg, a member of Cape Town’s mayoral committee in charge of water said in a press briefing.
After Day Zero citizens will have to line up for water at designated distribution points.
Calculating Day Zero takes into account maximum evaporation (based on temperature and wind) and existing agricultural and urban use.
The current more optimistic view is based reduced usage in the agriculture section.
Average weekly water usage, now that agriculture has been restricted City of Cape TownAgricultureOther Urban Usage73%198City of Cape TownAgricultureOther Urban Usage73%198 Data: City of Cape Town Until now, city officials’ messaging has centered on the impending doom of Day Zero, including an unintentionally terrifying mascot.
The new date coincides with Cape Town’s winter rainfall season, meaning it could be pushed back even further, and possibly eroding trust in the Day Zero model.
Cape Town’s water supply is about to run dry — but at least there’s a new mascot in town https://t.co/3gmRg49Wbu pic.twitter.com/AaQ5bKSQce — MotherNatureNetwork (@MotherNatureNet) February 21, 2018 “It wasn’t about trying to in any way mislead the public but it was about giving an honest assessment in that point in time,” said Limberg, saying citizens’ “dramatically” reducing their consumption in the last four weeks also helped.
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The New South Wales ombudsman is investigating whether WaterNSW – the body responsible for compliance with the state’s water laws – has misled it when it provided data last year on the number of prosecutions and enforcement actions it had taken in the 15 months prior.
Special reports are a last resort when the ombudsman deems that a report to the minister is insufficient.
The new report will say that statistics provided to it by WaterNSW on prosecutions and compliance activities since July 2016 were seriously overstated by the agency.
They were then used in the ombudsman’s earlier special report to the state parliament in November last year, which outlined the ombudsman’s frustrations in getting adequate action on complaints over the past decade.
The November 2017 report outlined the handling of several specific examples of breaches of the water laws highlighted by the ombudsman since 2007.
In July 2017 Four Corners aired an explosive report on the management of the Barwon-Darling system that featured NSW water compliance officers saying that despite reporting wrongdoing, they received little support from their superiors to take action.
This prompted the ombudsman to go public with the special report in November.
As well as detailing its findings in the three earlier reports, the ombudsman zeroed in on systemic failures.
There were no prosecutions in 2016-17.
However, the ombudsman noted WaterNSW had assured its office that it had taken “significant steps” to resource and perform the compliance function since 1 July.